Gray and Coral Bedroom Makeover Reveal

This room went from drab to fab with a gray and coral bedroom makeover! Complete with DIY projects and a tight budget this room has it all!

The day is finally here! Begun back in February, I’m finally finished and able to show all the details of our gray and coral bedroom makeover!

Desperately in need of reviving and updating, this room has my heart and soul poured into it.

We had lived with the same furniture arrangement for 23 years. Yep, that’s right. 23 years.

That’s a long time getting up on the same side of the bed, next to the man I love who helps me accomplish my dreams.

Every detail has been painstakingly reworked or repurposed with my own hands (or those of my DIY hubby).

The ideas were mine. The color scheme was mine. The hard part of convincing my husband to let me paint the furniture was mine.

Honestly, it was like giving birth!

To those of you with larger bedrooms you may not know the huge obstacles you can face between practical and beautiful.

I am so thrilled that this room now has both!

Except for one or two items, everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is either a DIY project, a yardsale find or a hand me down.

And lest you think I’m tooting my own horn too much, I share all this because I am not a designer or decorator. I’m just a gal who has learned to create on a budget while spending seemingly endless hours on Pinterest, yardsaling and dreaming. If I can do this so can you!

To fully appreciate this room I have to talk you through the before. The walls were done with venetian plaster, a decorative coating system that looks rough but was smooth to the touch.

Almost everything in the bedroom was thrifted or given to us. (I was using the “new to me” comforter flipped over so it wouldn’t get too dirty.)

There was no cohesiveness, just a bunch of yard sale purchases and sentimental items I couldn’t part with it.

Our dark bedroom furniture was chalk painted and distressed. The difference is amazing!

One of the most important elements of the room was the fabric. The comforter was passed down to me by my daughter because she knew exactly what I wanted. She also knew her mama wasn’t going to spend $400 or some such ridiculous amount on bed linens!

The fabric was provided by Online Fabric Store, and there will be tutorials to come on all the no sew projects. (See the No Sew Fabric Cornice here.)

Looking back towards the larger window, I just love the pops of coral. This room is lighter and brighter than any other in our home, but I still need some bold color mixed in.

Tim and I went round and round about the wardrobe. We covered the inserts first with a fabric that just didn’t work and ended up choosing the fabric that was intended for cording around the window treatments. I’m totally thrilled with this gorgeous fabric.

On the other side of the room you can see how amazing the dresser looks! This furniture was actually a hand me down from my brother many, many years ago. I had to talk Tim into painting it, and I think it adds just the right touch of shabby chic elegance.

If you look closely into this corner you can see the fence board box Tim built me to store all those pillows from the bed. Like most men, I imagine, he can’t stand that many pillows so he gave me a place to put them. Thoughtful man, isn’t he?

One of my favorite changes probably won’t surprise you.

Since my love language is definitely DIY, my hubby nailed it with new closet doors. This may sound unfeminine, but give me doors that open instead of slide and I am in heaven! No flowers or candy for me!

About Marty Walden

Marty Walden believes anyone can create an authentic home filled with simple, thrifty decor. When you join her community, you’ll gain the knowledge and confidence to create a treasured home and still live within your means!

You and your hubby have done an awesome job with your bedroom. Our family went through extremely thin times… I know we enjoy the things we worked hard on to make “ours” so much more than something purchased brand new. Never be afraid to be you – you’re obviously terrific!

Marty it looks fantastic! Beautiful colour choice and I just have to say that I had to go back and look at the fantastic corner detail on your crown … how interesting and unusual, I love it! From the armoire makeover to the fabric choices… everything looks fresh and crisp… beautiful!!

Hi, Judy. I’m working on the tutorial for the headboard but it’s two louvered doors that were cut down and then bolted to the wall. They’re not attached to the bed. Hopefully I’ll have a specific tutorial up soon!

WOW!!! It all looks so gorgeous. The cabinet details are my favorite. I can not believe you had your furniture the same for 23 years, I am sure you may bump a knee and stump a toe before you get used to it! LOVE IT. ~Sonya

Beautiful room. I have a dresser similar to yours that belonged to my great aunt. It’s 100% real wood. I am torn about repainting it, but it doesn’t match our decor. What do you advise? In addition, where did you purchase the shelves used in the bathroom model? I would like similar shelves for my kitchen and pantry.

Hi, Tanya! I know some people are sticklers about not painting wood, but our furniture was solid wood but so very dated. Chalk painting allowed us to still keep the furniture but mix and match a few different pieces together. If you have furniture that is scuffed up it is an ideal way to freshen it up. Plus, since our room is so small the white lightens the room as well. Do wha tyou love!

Sorry, the shelves were handmade with fence board by my husband. Not sure if you can find them anywhere online. Good luck!

First time visitor. I’m really impressed with the transformation, wow! It’s very pretty, and I like how light and airy it looks now. What are the dimensions of your room? I’m curious because I recently moved to a “new” older single story ranch house with a corner set of those high wide windows. The walls I inherited from Mrs. Seller are a medium grey and dark brown wide-slat vinyl blinds on the windows with dark-stained woodwork. The hardwood floor was redone and is a much lighter tone. The room is 10′ x 12′ and I have less furniture in it than you do in yours, but it feels/looks cramped. I will be taking a closer look at your thought processes during your redo, maybe I can find something to help me make my room live larger.

Hi, Jan. Our room is 10×12 as well. I have always hated our high windows until we did the window treatments and hung them up to the ceiling. It makes the biggest difference. I think the white comforter and painting the furniture as well as the gray walls, helped our room feel larger. It’s still small, but it’s not cramped like it used to be. I hope you’re able to figure out your room! Small rooms are definitely hard.

WOW, Marty oh my goodness what a difference! Well done, for sure! It all looks amazing! One question- what did you do with those white painted wall sconce lights? They’d be great in your new space for added lighting – at your dresser or even back next to your awesome shutter headboards. I love them, they’re really cool. You should consider using them again, the white would look great – as you know – against your awesome new wall color. Love it, good job, lady!!

Hey, Michele. We decided not to use the hanging lights. My husband and I rarely read in bed and we don’t even have a tv in there. The two lights on either side of the bed provide plenty of light. They’re in the attic, though, sure to be used somewhere again!

I love that transformation. My room furniture is brown and I would love to change to white, but furniture is quite new and expensive. Do you think I could or should change the color? I surely would transform everything like you did. Very inspiring job done!! Congratulations!!

Hi, Mayris. Painting furniture is purely a personal decision. Once you paint it you can’t go back, though. If you’re just wanting to lighten up the room maybe do it through the bedding or window treatments or even pillows. I love my furniture and it was solid even if it was 20 years old, and I don’t regret painting it one bit. Good luck with deciding!

I came over from a link party because I HAD to see how gray and coral were combined! You did a great job and your hard work shows! The room has such a different energy now. Much lighter and refreshing.

Wow I love what you did. Ive been wanting to paint my room blue, but now I think a blue/grey would be much nicer. Please give us a tutorial on how you did the window treatments. They would be perfect for my project.

I am partial to greens and blues but what you’ve done here might make me change my mind! Wow. I can’t begin to say how much I love what you have done. The vibe that is conveys is so calming. Perfect for a bedroom!

Hi, Ann! What a thrill for me that you commented! I am a huge fan of your writing. We also homeschool and 1000 Gifts was a book I read to my youngest two still at home. They are both adopted and parenting them has been such a difficult but rewarding journey. Keeping a gratitude journal is such an easy and powerful tool for all of us. We actually do a blessing jar each year that we open on Thanksgiving and our married kids bring their slips of blessings as well. Sweet family memories.

I started my blog as a way of connecting with adoptive moms with kids from hard places and it’s grown in ways I could never have imagined. I have always sought to be transparent with our heartaches and blessings. Your writing touches me because of your own transparency and incredible way with words. You are a blessing!

Love your shutter headboard. Thank you for sharing. Need a headboard for my split king size bed. We were going to make small headboard, but love this idea. It is so disappointing that I got rid of some small shutters a few years ago. Guess I will have to look at yard sales or thrift stores. I just refinished and old old stain glass window with chalk paint. I love using chalk paint. I hung it on my wall over my bed. Now I am going to give your shutter headboard a try. My husband was going to fix a headboard with just lumber, now I have a better idea thanks to you.

Meet Marty

Marty Walden believes anyone can create an authentic home filled with simple, thrifty decor. When you join her community, you’ll gain the knowledge and confidence to create a treasured home and still live within your means! Read More…